


Nothing of Importance

by SuperSpyShark



Category: Lizzie Bennet Diaries
Genre: F/M, Friendship, Future Fic, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-03
Updated: 2013-03-03
Packaged: 2017-12-04 05:40:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,695
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/707171
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SuperSpyShark/pseuds/SuperSpyShark
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Darcy shifts in his chair, picks at a bit of lint on his sleeve. Jane opens her mouth to speak, but at the last second thinks better of it, not entirely sure of what to say. Darcy clears his throat. The large, black and white clock on the east wall ticks loudly.</p><p>A much needed conversation between Jane and Darcy.</p><p>Cannon through ep92.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Nothing of Importance

**Author's Note:**

> So I wrote this last week, and then the setting got totally cannon-balled...so yeah. I had to change that. I wrote this for someone who put out a call for a Jane/Darcy friendship fic. It turned out to be a lot of fun to write. Anyways, Enjoy!

Bing Lee’s loft in New York City is old – grand to be sure, but old – and therefore incredibly drafty despite its renovations. Which is why Jane Bennet shivered through most of dinner and then dessert, although she denied being uncomfortable so as not to inconvenience anyone.

“Jane, please, let me grab you a sweater of mine,” says Bing. He’s already half out of his chair and headed for the staircase when she shakes her head.

“No, no, I’m fine, really,” she says, her slender fingers brushing his arm. He hesitates for a moment, his gaze caught in hers before he sighs, then frowns.

“No, I insist,” he says, giving her hand a squeeze before stepping away, “I’ll be right back.”

Jane opens her mouth to protest, her eyes wide, but an eye-roll from Lizzie across the table stops her.

“Thank you,” Jane calls meekly after him, but Bing has already left, disappearing up the stairwell and down the hall. Jane looks to Lizzie, who is smirking at her plate.

“What?” Jane asks. She brushes a loose tendril of hair behind her ear, glancing over at Darcy before shifting her attention back to Lizzie.

“Just you and Bing,” she says with a smile, “You’re ridiculous.”

“ _Lizzie_...”

“ _Jane_ ,” mimics Lizzie as her smile widens.

“We’re not ridiculous,” she protests. Her cheeks are flushed, and her fingers have knotted together. Lizzie sighs out her laughter.

“Oh Jane, you know what I mean,” says Lizzie, “He’s so doting, and you’re so sweet. I meant it in a good way.”

“He’s being kind, I didn’t ask him to get a sweater for me,” Jane says quickly, “I don’t expect him to do things like that for me. I don’t expect-”

“You’re cute together, Jane,” says Lizzie, her voice more even, serious, “You’re _good_ together.”

Jane’s pink lips press together in a thin line, her eyes squinting as she inspects the tablecloth in front of her. She helped Bing pick it out. Her mind flits through trips to stores - laughing, smiling, his hand linked with hers. But at the corner of her minds eye lurks something darker - a snarled, twsited memory from not so long ago that makes her throat feel tight.

“Will,” sighs Lizzie, “Help me out here.”

 “I believe I am inclined to agree with Lizzie,” said Darcy, “You and Bing are rather...adorable.”

The word feels awkward on his tongue, but he pushes through it. His hand, with his arm resting across the back of Lizzie’s chair, traces circles on the exposed skin of her shoulder. Just then, Lizzie’s phone buzzes.

“I should take this,” she says having fished the cell phone out of her pocket and glancing at the screen. Her hand finds Darcy’s and squeezes before she leaves, the phone pressed to her ear. “Charlotte? Hey, how’d it go?” she asks as she heads for the kitchen, retreating behind the swinging door a moment later.

Jane and Darcy are left alone at the spacious dining table together.

The room is large, with windows the stretch up to the ceiling, and a light fixture that dangles down. One wall, while the others are the cool grey of bare cement, is deep rouge - nearly plum - and Jane briefly wonders if she can find a fabric that colour for a dress. Darcy shifts in his chair, picks at a bit of lint on his sleeve. Jane opens her mouth to speak, but at the last second thinks better of it, not entirely sure of what to say. Darcy clears his throat. The large, black and white clock on the east wall ticks loudly.

Gathering her gumption, Jane finally speaks, “It’s been so good to see you.”

“Yes,” says Darcy, “it’s been quite a while since we’ve been able to do this.”

Jane nods, rubbing her arms, the chill in the room still biting her skin.

“Bing should be back soon with a sweater,” Darcy comments, “I’m surprised he’s taken this long.”

“Caroline did say she would call tonight.”

“Hm.”

 _Tick... tick... tick..._ goes the clock.

“Did you...” starts Darcy, “Did you know that dining rooms are often painted red to increase the appetite?”

Jane’s eyebrows rise. “No, I didn’t know that.”

“It’s an interesting use of colour theory.”

“Mhm.”

“Bing chose this colour himself, I believe.”

“I remember seeing the paint swatches,” she nods. Her voice is soft, distracted.

_Tick...tick...tick...tick..._

“Darcy?” says Jane, “Can I ask you something?”

His hands twitch, and he fiddles with the end of his tie. “Of course,” he replies.

“Did you really mean what you said before? That I’m good for Bing?”

Her eyes are wide as a doe, clear and blue and questioning. Her hands are once again in her lap, her fingers knotted together to stop them from anxiously drumming against the table. Darcy watches her, his gaze heavy, contemplating.

“Why would you assume I was lying?” he finally asks.

Jane sighs, runs a hand over her hair, smoothing the flyaway strands. “I worry, that’s all.”

“About whether or not you’re good for Bing?”

“Yes. Sort of. I mean – I love Bing, and he loves me, I know that,” she says, “But you’re his best friend. You supported separating us once because you believed I wasn’t what he needed.”

“I was mistaken. That is very clear to me now,” says Darcy, “I should be asking you if you think me deserving of your sister. Surely I have given a greater amount of evidence to the contrary.”

“Don’t be silly,” Jane tells him, “I’ve watched the videos. Even before that I was aware that you were very different from how Lizzie saw you.”

“You are quite possibly the only person to ever accuse me of being silly, Jane,” he says, his mouth twisting into a vague impression of a smirk. Jane smiles.

“I can’t imagine why,” she says. Darcy laughs despite himself, a low rumble through the room. He sobers a moment later, and sighs.

“Am I allowed to ask you a question?” he asks. Jane nods. When he speaks, his voice is soft, and his eyes are on the stitching of the table cloth.

“What if it doesn’t last?”

Jane shakes her head almost immediately, “No. No, Darcy, that won’t happen. Lizzie cares about you – so, so much.”

“I love her, Jane,” Darcy says slowly, quietly. His eyes dart toward the kitchen. His fingers tap against his empty wine glass. “If she were to grow tired of me – if she were to leave me now-”

“Hey,” Jane says, cutting him off, calling his attention back to her, “You’re worrying about something that isn’t going to happen. She lights up around you, Darcy. It’s like nothing I’ve ever seen before. That sort of thing,” she says softly, “it doesn’t fade. It isn’t chemicals, it isn’t logic - it’s magic. It’s lasting. She’ll never get tired of you.”

“It’s the same for Bing,” says Darcy. “He cares for you a great deal. I was wrong about a lot of things, Jane. But I think the one I regret most was my own arrogance regarding you and Bing. To have put you through what I did – for that I am truly sorry.”

“It wasn’t just you, Darcy. It wasn’t like you tied Bing up and made him leave.”

“No, but he values my opinion,” Darcy explains. He runs a hand over his face before he continues, “he placed a great deal of trust in it since he often feels he is not a sensible judge himself. I abused his trust, though at the time I felt I was doing him a service.”

Jane nods, her eyes focused on him, “Bing and I have gone over everything, Darcy. We’ve made our peace. What I want to know is if _we’re_ okay? You matter to Bing, and you matter to my sister, and they both matter to me, so...you matter to me.”

“You’re too kind, Jane,” says Darcy.

“That’s what Lizzie keeps telling me, but,” says Jane with a smile, “I think I’m just the right amount of kind.”

“Perhaps that is so,” says Darcy slowly. He’s running a hand over his face again, fixes his gaze upon her as he says, “Yes, Jane, we are ‘okay’, as you put it. I could not imagine Bing with anyone more suited to him.”

Jane smiles wide, pleased, her cheeks flushing as she looks at her hands twisted upon her lap. “Thank you,” she says.

“And in return, Jane, do you approve of me?”

Jane’s smile shifts, becomes more teasing. “You’re decent enough, I suppose.”

Darcy smiles, but looks away. His eyes drift to the kitchen again, and his expression slides into something more serious.

 “Really though, Darcy,” Jane says, her smile softening, “You’re exactly the man she wants, and _exactly_ the man she deserves.”

He lets out a breath of air, his tense muscles finally relaxing. “Thank you, Jane.”

Just then, there are footsteps in the hall, and a moment later Bing descends the stairs.

“Wow,” he says, collapsing into his chair next to Jane, “I always forget how much Caroline loves to talk my ear off.”

He picks up Jane’s hand, and kisses it, “Miss me?”

Jane smiles. “Of course,” she says before, “Did you remember my sweater?”

Bing cringes, “No, sorry, I’ll go get-”

“Don’t be silly,” Jane laughs, shifting closer to him and whispering, “You can keep me warm instead.”

Bing smiles “I like the sound of that,” he says softly, his lips near her ear.

“You two,” admonishes Lizzie, her arms crossed but a smirk playing across her features, “I leave for two minutes and you’re all over each other.”

“Oh Lizzie,” says Jane, her cheeks pink, “Why do you have to make everything dirty?”

Her sister laughs as she takes her place next to Darcy. He kisses her cheek when she leans against him.

“Oh Jane,” says Lizzie, teasing, “It’s because you make it so easy.”

Jane rolls her eyes as the others laugh. Then Bing, picking up the bottle and pouring more wine for everyone, asks, “So, did you two talk about anything interesting while we were gone?”

“No,” says Jane, catching Darcy’s eye and smiling, “Nothing of importance.”

 

 


End file.
